Sandra Lugo, 57, of San Bernardino cries Thursday as she talks about the death of her daughter Angela Zuniga, who died while in San Bernardino County sheriff’s jail custody in San Bernardino. Lugo said her daughter was denied proper medical care at West Valley Detention Center before she was taken to Arrowhead Regional Center where she died Feb. 28, 18 days after a C-section birth and hysterectomy.

Sandra Lugo, 57, of San Bernardino in a family photo with daughter Angela Zuniga, who died while in San Bernardino County sheriff’s jail custody in San Bernardino February 28.

The Sheriff’s Department had nothing to report this week on the internal investigation into Zuniga’s death on Feb. 28 at Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, 18 days after she gave birth to a son via C-section and had a hysterectomy.

Lugo, 57, said her daughter was returned to West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga three days after giving birth and was forced to do chores even though she complained she was in agony. Lugo said Zuniga’s appeals for additional medical care went unheeded, and she was placed in solitary confinement.

When asked to comment on Lugo’s allegations, sheriff’s spokeswoman Jodi Miller referred to a news release issued after Zuniga’s death.

That release said only that on Feb. 27, Zuniga experienced a medical emergency and at 10 p.m. was taken to the hospital in Colton, where she died at 5:41 a.m. the following day.

Lugo said her daughter collapsed about 6 p.m. She wondered why, with inmates calling out to jailers that Zuniga was turning blue, her daughter was not hospitalized until hours later.

Miller said she could not comment on Zuniga’s medical care because of privacy rules.

The Riverside County Sheriff’s Department is performing the autopsy, as is customary for people who die while in custody in San Bernardino County.

Lugo, who lives in a small apartment in a fourplex on San Bernardino’s west side, said she is raising the newborn boy, Exodus, and another of Zuniga’s sons, Psalms, age 2.

“I’m mad. I’m taking care of her kids now. She should be raising her kids. I’m devastated. I don’t think I will ever be normal,” Lugo said.

Zuniga, 33, left behind seven children and a lifetime of regrets.

For her most recent incarceration, she had been in jail since Jan. 11, charged with shooting at an inhabited dwelling and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

A sister, Sonia Zuniga, 35, said she and Lugo’s other children were raised in a rough neighborhood in Orange County.

“We grew up in street rules and with street smarts,” she said.

Angela Zuniga had a criminal record as a child and later was convicted of a felony, which prevented her from landing a good job, her sister said.

Even so, Lugo said, Zuniga was a loving person who would give money to others for food, diapers and bus fare. The viewing before Zuniga’s funeral lasted an hour longer than scheduled because of the number of mourners who came. They placed jewelry, handkerchiefs, stuffed bears and flowers in her casket.

“They filled her casket with so many things that I had to empty it,” Lugo said.

Zuniga, who moved to San Bernardino four years ago, recently vowed to turn her life around. She learned skills in jail and listed goals that included having a normal life, being a good mother and making sure her children were well.

“She made some bad choices, and she wanted a new start and a change,” Sonia Zuniga said.

Nine people have died while in the county’s custody since the beginning of 2015. Eight of them were at West Valley Detention Center, while one was at the Big Bear Jail. Sheriff’s officials said five cases were medical emergencies, three were suicides and one was a homicide.

Zuniga’s death was the third this year. Sunday’s death of Federico Juarez Guardado, 30, was the fourth. All four were at West Valley and were said to have died from a medical emergency.

“I pray to God that she didn’t die handcuffed, that she died with dignity,” Sonia Zuniga said.

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